Warm temps have really slowed down the snow, creating soft, sticky conditions. Skate deck is irregular in places. Tracks are a mix of new and old. Better conditions exist on the manmade loops than the other trails. I heard reports of hikers on the upper trails.

(John McCarthy)

Man made trail is in okay shape. I say okay because of a concave skating surface. Seems like your constantly adjusting for a ridge on either side. Grooming of outer loops appear to have been attempted but was kind of a mess for now.

(Matt Smith)

The manmade loops provided the best conditions this morning for skate and stride. The new snow has packed down a bit, with some wind-blown snow on top. There is a double set of tracks around the manmade loops. Grooming is progressing on the balance of the trail system. Very soft conditions for skating and no track set, as yet.

(John McCarthy)

The man made loop was mostly open. 2-3" of soft fluff. The base was very soft, but was open and blowing significantly. The groomer was unable to successfully get through any of the loops with the ice layer underneath. I was told my a park employee they would try and get the loops done today once the snow began to settle. At least we have snow!

(Jonathan Pitzen)

The groomers chipped the icy base to provide enough loose sugar snow for edging for good skate skiing. The edges were icy but could be avoided by staying in the groomed lane. The only ice patch was at the bottom of magic carpet on the right and could be avoided. Many striders were using the tracks. The parking lot was 75% full as Lapham had the only skiable conditions in southeast Wisconsin thanks to the manmade snow and grooming.

(Don Howell)

As expected, it was very icy this morning. I skied from 10 am to noon doing some skating exercises. Some people were out there skate skiing too. It was not groomed yet, nice tracks are set though. A thin layer of ice present everywhere. Hopefully, it will snow this weekend!

(Raphael Delhaye)

Groomers made the manmade good for skate skiing chipping enough for 2" sugar snow over the whole 1.7k loop with no ice patches. Classic tracks were also made. The skate lanes were lumpy from the heavy use from skiers but still enjoyable skiing.

(Don Howell)

The manmade loops have been groomed this morning, mixing in the sleet from last night with the ground ice base, and making for a nice, firm, and fast surface on the skate deck. Nicer in the woods than on the core loop. A track was set, but I can't comment on it.

(John McCarthy)

The manmade-snow loop at Lapham was good this afternoon. When I started skiing at 12:45 today, it was only fair: enough of the base had been scarified up into snow to get an edge, but quite uneven. Then the DNR groomer came out about 1:00 pm, went over and over it, leveling it out and scratching up the places where it was icy, mainly on straight, flat, east-west section. This is old, dirty snow, but it was good skiing.

(Charlie Dee)

The manmade snow loops, with their firm base of manmade snow, survived the recent meltdown. Grooming by the DNR team has broken up the icy top layer and created a wonderful skiing surface - hero snow - on the entire manmade snow system. No track has been set. The surface is corn snow over an icy base - but actually the most fun skating conditions of the season (sorry, striders). Who knows what's next, but for now, the skiing is great.

Photos:

(John McCarthy)